Labour mediator Vince Ready meets with members of Unifor and the United Truckers Association in Vancouver March 6, 2014. Ready is expected to make recommendations to the provincial and federal governments by May 30.Nick Procaylo
/ Vancouver Sun

Labour mediator Vince Ready meets with members of Unifor and the United Truckers Association in Vancouver March 6, 2014. Ready is expected to make recommendations to the provincial and federal governments by May 30.Nick Procaylo
/ OPNG

Gavin McGarrigle, Area Director for Unifor, BC speaks to media before a meeting with labour mediator Vince Ready in Vancouver, BC., March 6, 2014. Ready is expected to make recommendations to the provincial and federal governments by May 30.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

A truck passes a sign posted by the United Truckers Association at the McGill Street entrance to the Port Metro Vancouver terminal on Monday March 3, 2014. Port Metro Vancouver and protesting truckers are meeting with labour mediator Vince Ready this morning in a last minute bid to avert a strike.Ric Ernst
/ VANCOUVER SUN

Trucks enter and leave the port of Vancouver at the McGill street entrance Monday. Port Metro Vancouver and protesting truckers are meeting with labour mediator Vince Ready this morning in a last minute bid to avert a strike.Ric Ernst
/ VANCOUVER SUN

About 30 United Truckers Association members held a protest at Port Metro Vancouver Thursday over rates and wait times. Port Metro Vancouver and protesting truckers are meeting with labour mediator Vince Ready this morning in a last minute bid to avert a strike.Kevin Griffin
/ Vancouver Sun

Hundreds of truckers organized by the United Truckers Association gathered along Highway 99 in Delta Wednesday to protest rising costs, safety issues and low haulage rates. Pictured is UTA spokesman Meeka Sanghera speaking to the crowd. Port Metro Vancouver and protesting truckers are meeting with labour mediator Vince Ready this morning in a last minute bid to avert a strike.Jason Payne
/ VANCOUVER SUN

VANCOUVER — Port truck drivers left a meeting with veteran labour negotiator Vince Ready on Thursday with recommendations for a deal that will keep the union-represented drivers from taking strike action and could see non-union drivers return to work as early as Monday after holding a weekend vote.

Federal Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt appointed Ready to conduct an independent review of the issues regarding pay and waiting times that have contributed to the disruption of trucking operations. Ready was to report back to government by May 30.

More than 1,000 non-union drivers stopped work on Feb. 26 to protest lengthy wait times to load or drop off containers at Metro Vancouver’s four terminals, and the undercutting of trucking rates, which have not changed since being first set in 2005.

Another 300 members of Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers Association then served strike notice earlier this week, which put them in a position to picket starting at noon on Thursday.

However, Unifor spokesman Gavin McGarrigle said the drivers sat down with Ready and senior representatives of the federal and provincial transportation ministries, and at the end of the discussion wound up with recommendations that both union and non-union drivers would take to their respective members for a vote over the weekend.

“All parties have agreed to recommend the agreement, both ourselves and the (non-union United Truckers Association),” said McGarrigle, area director for Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union.

McGarrigle characterized the recommendations as “one small step in the road” toward resolving all of the issues, but declined to offer any details of the terms that they set before union members have had a chance to see them and vote.

Ready will continue his work, as set out in his mandate from Raitt, and McGarrigle added that as a sign of good faith, the Unifor-represented drivers will stay on the job.

However, UTA spokesman Manny Dosange told the Canadian Press that its members will continue job action until at least Saturday when the truckers have had a chance to review the proposal.

He added that their drivers have been struggling financially and they need assurance that their concerns will be resolved before they call off the job action.

Union members have continued working under the provisions of the previous contract, which expired in June, 2012.

Port spokesman John Parker-Jervis said that based on reports coming out of the meeting, Port Metro Vancouver is optimistic that operations will be back to normal by Monday.

It is the second time since 2005 that port truck drivers have walked off the job over the issues of long waiting times at terminals and the per-container rates for hauling the 40-foot shipping containers used to move ocean-going cargo.

It is also the second time Ready has been involved in negotiations.

Ready mediated the dispute in 2005, producing a report that set firm pay rates for all drivers, including non-union drivers, and established the licensing system to help enforce trucking rules.

And while his mandate for Thursday was to begin his review, Ready approaches such situations with the gravitas to quickly achieve resolutions, which is also in his nature, according to labour expert Mark Thompson.

“That’s what he does,” said Thompson, a professor emeritus in the Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C. “If you bring a musician in, he’s going to sing.”

Interviewed before news of the agreement, Thompson said that Ready, who has 36 years experience in labour mediation and arbitration, has a level of experience that commands respect in such situations.

“When he comes in and tells you this is not a good idea, well, this is Vince Ready, he’s been around quite a long time and been very successful, you’d better listen,” Thompson said.

Other issues, that need to be resolved include costs being downloaded onto container truckers.

Meanwhile, cargo destined for Lower Mainland ports is starting to be diverted to other west coast terminals. Peter Xotta, vice-president of planning and operations for Port Metro Vancouver, said earlier this week that major retailers have begun to execute their diversion plans to other ports. He did not know how much cargo would be diverted, but speculated it would likely be sent to ports in Seattle or Tacoma.

Port Metro Vancouver said Tuesday that local trucking moves about 1.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers per year and that based on the 2011 economic impact study figures, the value of those goods would be approximately $46 billion per year, or $885 million worth of cargo moved by truck weekly.

Tempers have flared during the current dispute, with reports of vandalism and truck brake lines being cut, and the Port Metro Vancouver threatening to suspend and cancel licenses of drivers involved in alleged violence.

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